Cumberland University choir hosts Christmas community concert

The University Singers of CU will team up with the Nashville-based handbell ensemble Music City Bronze to present a free, public Christmas concert at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 in the university’s Baird Chapel.

The annual Cumberland University Singers Christmas Community Concert, which requires reservations, will showcase the talents of the university’s student choir and the Music City Bronze. The two groups will celebrate the season with Christmas carols and standards ranging from British choral music to “Silent Night.”

Dr. Brian Kilian, professor of music, believes that the concert will offer something for everyone.

“It will be a fabulous Christmas experience,” Kilian said. “The concert is all about ringing the season in. There’s a spirit about Christmas that embraces everyone, whatever their beliefs.”

In their first appearance at Cumberland, the Music City Bronze will perform Christmas carols accompanied by bells spanning three octaves. A leading handbell choir, the ensemble has played throughout Tennessee at venues including the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Cumberland music alumna Julie Turner, an award-winning handbell composer, is a member of the group. When Kilian reached out to the ensemble, he remembered his association with the former student.

“The concert came out of the relationship that we have with our students, who love to come back and be a part of what we are,” Kilian said.

The 24 students of Cumberland’s University Singers will also perform at the concert, singing selections from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” and a variety of Christmas standards, including a rendition of “Silent Night” that the audience can sing along to.

Kilian hopes that the concert will allow the Lebanon and Wilson County communities to come together with Cumberland University in a night of holiday cheer.

“The concert will allow us to go to a different place for a little while and celebrate our students, our university, and our community,” Kilian said.

The community concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 in Cumberland University’s Baird Chapel. Admission is free, but reservations are required as seating is limited. To make reservations, call (615) 547-1364.